Flexible upright marker



Oct. 1-4, 1930. M. E. HARTZLER ET FLEXIBLE UPRI GHT MARKER Filed April 15, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l 4 5 ATT Patented Oct. 14, 1930 UN TED STATES PATENT OFFICE MELVIN E. HARTZLER, OF

FLEXIBLE UPRIGHT MARKER Application filed April 15,

The present invention relates to flexible upright markers. In general these markers J ed to be placed in the highway in the line of travel of the vehicles passing therealong. Normally the blade extends upward by reason of its inherent resiliency and displays the indicia to be observed by the oncoming drivers. The blade remains upright until it is encountered by the wheel of a vehicle, then it is forced down fiat by theweight of the vehicle and remains so until the wheel has "passed over it. As soon as freed, the blade sprin s baclr intoits normal upright indicating position, v I

In markers of this kind heretofore proposed, the upright flexible blade is. set in an opening in the pavement. This is an objectionable feature in many situations. One object of the present invention is to provide a new marker of the kind in question which rests wholly upon the pavement except possibly for the insertion of one or two anchor bolts.

" Another object is to simplify the construe tion so as to reduce the number of parts of the marker to a minimum. Except-for the anchorbolts, these'may be reduced to two, namely the resilient blade and the rigid base. These are made relatively flat, and consequently may be easily packed within a small comp ass for shipment.

Another ob ect is to'provide a structure which in operation will cause the blade to be bent reversely. Thiswill' prolong the life of thebla'de and marker since the blade is preferably composed of rubber and it is wellknown that reverse bends do in fact prolong the life of rubber. I

Another objectis to increase the life of the base by giving 'it a yielding bearing upon the pavement in the neighborhood of the place where it receives its greatest blows from the traffic- Thisis preferablyaccomilished by arrangingthe parts so that the lower portion of the blade itself acts as a cushion.

another object is to render the assembly and disassembly of the bladeand base simple.

1929. Serial No. 355,301.

and eiiicient. This is preferably accomplished by providing the base with an elongated slot and then making the main portion of the blade thin enough to pass upward through the'slot and the lower edge portion of the blade too thick to pass through the slot. The'fit can be made such that the blade will be forced intofinal position over a yielding surface. This gives a snape-like action and firmly and positively sets the blade in its final position. To provide this lit the lower portion of the blade is wedge-shaped and the narrowest part of the wedge is provided with grooves into which the cooperating rib-like walls of the slot seat themselves.

Another object is to produce a marker which will approximate the irregularities of the surface of the pavement. This is preferably done by giving the marker a three line, three zone contact. These lines or zones extend lengthwise of the marker. The outside zones are provided by the forward and rearward edge portions of the metal base and the intermediate zone is provided by the bottom edge of the blade. These three contact lines, or zones, lie substantially in the same horizontal plane.

Another object is to especially reinforce the blade of the marker to increase its anchor hold uponthe'base. .This is done by inserting metal reinforcing members such as wires in the wedge-shaped lower portion of the blade.

Other objects are to stiffen the blade and yet have it lightai'id flexible, to improve the 5 visibility of the indicia upon the blade and to otherwise render the marker eihcient in service. A. thickened rim along the top and partially down the ends of the blade does much to stiffen the structure. Being mar ginally stiffened in this way, the central panel of the blade may be relatively thin and flexible. The visiliility is improved by set: ting out the symbols with smooth faces and corrugating the body of the blade about the symbols so as to give a back-ground which will reflect the light very differently. Similar corrugations on the back of the blade may also be employed to render it dull to vision and perhaps to some extent increase its flexibility. The blade is I ward each other, as clearly shown also preferably slightly tilted to the vertical so as to render its indicia more easily readable by oncoming drivers. 7

These several objects and features of our invention will be more full understood by referencetothe following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the scope of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In said drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a marker constructed in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same showing the pavement and portions of the anchor bolt in section, theupper portion of the blade also being broken away; Fig. through a .portion of the blade indicatin more particularly the corrugations on the front and rear of the same, the plane of section being indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; 4 is a transverse vertical section through the entire. marker, the plane of secti'on being indicated by the line H of Fig.

of the lower por- 1 ;Fig.- 5 is a similar view I tion of the blade on a large scale indicating a modified lower wedge-shaped portion and also showing the metal reinforcement therein; and Fig. 6 is a similar view ofthe lower portion of a blade and the adjacent portions of the base illustrating a modification wherein the rear of the blade is corrugated a short distance at the points whereit makes its maximum bend and showing, corrugations on its bottom surface. Throughout these views like characters refer to like parts.

Referring to 'said drawings in detail, A- designates the blade and B the base. The former is composed of highly flexible resilient water-proof material such as vulcanized rubber compounded to furnish the toughness and resiliency of rubber employed in tire itreads. By using high grade resilient-rubber in the blade, it will give satisfactory service for a number'of years even though the traffic, extremely heavy. The base B a single piece of metal cast; or other- Wise shaped, so as to provide a central elongated opening 10 through'which the blade A may be passed when assembling the parts. For the purpose of fitting into this slot, blade A has its main upper portion thin enough to pass upward through the slot while its lower edge portion is made too thick to pass through the slot. This is most clearly illustrated in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. There the upper portion which through the slot is designated '11 and the lower wedge-shaped portion is designated 12. i a I The forward and rear surfaces'ofthe main portion of the blade are inclined upward to- 3 is a vertical section,

passes freely so as to give a central panel of lightness and flexibility. The upper portion of the blade is stiffened around the outside of its central panel by a horizontal rim '13 and end rims 14 and 15. These rims are all provided by thickening'the rubber or other material out of which the blade is made, in the manner illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4. The end rims l4. and 15 are made the same thickness throughout and this causes them to'gradually merge into the panel portion of the blade near its bottom since the walls of the panel aretapered as before pointed out.

The slot 10 through which the portion 11 of blade A is passed has walls 16 and 17 which have the general shape of ribs extending lengthwise of the slot. These ribs coo crate with slight grooves 18 and 19' for-med at the narrowest portion of the wedgelQ of the blade A. The wall 16 'on'the forward si'deofthe blade A has astra'ight' centralpor tion and curved portions at its top and hottdm. Theacljacent portion of the wedge 12 is shaped so as to accurately fit'agains't this wall 16. Similarly the rear portion of the wedge 12 has its-surface shaped-so as to-iit against the curved surface of the wall 1. It will be seen that just upward of the-grooves 18 and 19 the width of the blade A is slightly greater than the slot'10. This means" that when the blade is pushed upward through the slot the walls'of the blade will be'con'ipressed slightly as they pass through the slot. This will be true until the walls l6and 17 of the slot are properly seated in the grooves 18 and 1-9 of the blade. Thus a snap-like acticn is produced when theblade' is pressed into its final position "in the base. TliisindicatQs that the parts are properly assembled and also keeps the blade from dropping out of the base. VVhen'the-parts are thusbrought together the whole assembled marker maybe moved about without any danger of separation of the one from theother. @n the other hand .ifit is necessaryto disassemble the structure that may be readily done since the walls of the blade are yielding and may be compressed into a narrow width sons to pass through theslot10 whenever that'is necessary.

ably performs a cushioning function. This is brought about by shaping the base so that its central portion adjacent to the slot 1 10 V quently thelowermost portions of the "walls" 16 and 17 of the slot 1O lie a short distance above the plane of the paveme'nt;-all"as clearly The lower end of theblade Aalso prefer spaced from av plane including the applied force at the forwardfand rear-- ward edges and 21 but. at the highest point over which the wheel of thevehicle must pass,

namely, the point where-the blade is located,

3 there willbethe cushioning action of the lower portion of the blade byreason ofthese flanges 23 and 24- underlying the adjacent portions of the blade. I

The blade A may be reinforced by fabric 20 25 worked into the material of the blade so as to lie near its surface, as illustrated in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5,'or' such reinforcement may be omitted, as desired. Where a fabric is employed, the same is placed well outward 25 towardthe surface of the blade and may be applied in the same manner as such reinforcing fabrics areapplied in the manufacture of tires for automobiles.- It is believed that it is sufficient to illustrate the fabric as we se have done without going into the steps of manufacturing. These are wellknown to workers in the rubber manufacturing art.

In'addition to the fabricreinforcement, the blade'A may be reinforced by metal re inforcing members. Such reinforcement is illustrated in Fig. 5'where anumber of piano wires 26 are positioned lengthwise of the blade near its lowest edgewithin the wedgeshap'ed portion 12. These wires 26 may be workedinto the structure indifferent ways. In the illustration shown-the wires are surrounded by a fabric 27. In other words a bundle of wires wrapped up in fabric located in thestructurea Obviously there if: inforcement provided by. the wires 26 may extend throughout the entire length of the blade A, or throughout more or less of its extent, as desired. the metal reinforcement may be provided without the fabric reinforcement This is true both as tothe fabric 25 and the fab- ,ric27. f

I?referably, in forming the base'B, the upper surface is curved so as to give reverse curves to the'blade every time itis pressed dowirupon the'base. In the embodiment shown, theblade is composed of rubberand hence it is desirable to provide this means for Iobtaining double curvature since "it is well known thatbending the rubber oppositely in {this way tends to greatly prolong the life of the rubber. *In order'to give this curvature at" the front'off the marker, the ,er po'rtion of thewall16 is convexlyup- 15 wardly curved, as clearly shown, andthen It is also obvious that forward of this curve is the relatively flat reverse curve formed by the surface 28. Thus, the curvature just forward of the slot 10 is very sharp while that more remote therefrom is slight. Ordinarily, however, the blade A is not moved downward upon the surface 28 although this may happen.

In the ordinary course the blade is flattened out uponthe surface 29 at the rear of the slot 10. In this case, the surface 29 has a sharper degree of curvature than the surface 28 and the curvature of the wall 17 of the slot 10 is not so sharp as the curvature along the upper portion of the wall 16 of the same slot. As a result of the sharper curvature of the surface 29 and. the less sharp curvature of the surface of the upper portion of" the wall 17, the blade A is given more nearly equal flexures each time it is flattened out on the rear portion of the base. Thus the greater bends are given during the regular or usual operations and consequently the life of the blade is'prolonged.

' VVit-h respect to the base A, it may be noted that the ends are brought flush with the surface of the pavement 22 by downwardly extending flanges 30. This ordinarily causes the base to fit all around against the surface of the'pavementand yet leave a portion of the same underneath hollowed out so that the cushioning action of the lower edgeof the blade may be utilized. Obviously, of course, the flanges 30 might be modified so as to yield a greater cushioning action, or the flanges themselves may wear down into the pavement a little due to repeated opera.-

tions. This may be especially true in warm weather on asphalt an d other like pavements. It therefore follows in practice that there is a yielding of the central portion of the marker whenever it is passed over by vehicles. v

The base B may be secured to the pavement or not, as (flesired. For the purpose of at-. taching it we have provided lugs 31 at oppositsv ends and these have been perforated for the passage of anchor bolts 32. The latter may be of any preferred construction and. are here shown coi'nprisii in each case a nut 33 that is sealed in a hole in the pavement and arranged to receive the hot". 32. After the hole is made, the nut 33 is set in the hole and secured in place by suitable packing 33 in the form of lead or other soft metal or like material tamped or otherwise compressed about thenut. "\Vheu thus seated the bolt 32 may be readily scre 'ed into and out of the nut for the purpose ofeitlier positioning or ren'ioving the These are, of course, on. the forward side of the blade A. In the illustration shown in ably orange, chrome orange, federal yellow,

or the equivalent. .As addingv to the visibility of the symbols, we preferably make the surface of each symbol smooth and in contrast to this the surface of the surrounding blade isroughened; Preferably the latter is accomplished by corrugating the surface with small longitudinal corrugations 35, as

shown more particularlyin Fig. 3. These reflect the light quite differently than do the smoothsurfaces of. the symbol 34. The backa ground formed by the corrugated surface ispreferably black, althoughit may be given some contrasting color ifdesired. Conse quently the symbols stand out conspicuously.

If desired, the back-of the panel of the blade A may be similarly corrugated, as indicated at 36, in Fig. 3. Just how far the use of such corrugated'surfaces may be-used to advantageis largely a matter of judgment and we therefore leave the matter open to the designer and manufacturer.

In some instances it may be desirable to give the back of the blade A a few special corrugations in the neighborhood of the rear wall of the slot in. the base; Such a modification is shown in- Fig. 6 where the corrugaits action in service.

I tions 37 extend lengthwise-of the bladegand are positioned in the neighborhood of the Wall 17; When corrugations like the corrugations 37 are used, the blade A'is made,

more flexible at the base and this facilitates As here shown the ther surfaces-of the blade are, not corrugated or otherwise roughened Instead of giving, the cuslriioning effect by flanges 23 and 24, which are run out with square ends, the same may be given bypoints 38 and 39 which take tee place of the flanges and underlie adjacent portions of the be. Such'points are'illustrated in 5.

in. some instances it may also be desirable to corrugate the undersurfac'e of the blade as shown'at l0,'in' Fig.6. In this case the blade adjusts itself more readily to the sun face of the pavement.

Tlieweight ofthe marl-tor may also be 170-- ducedby cuttingaway portions of the base B. In the embodiment shown, three openings 4-1 at the front side and. threesiinilar but narrower openings 42 at the rear, contribute to this end. The central openings il and provide by their outer walls, hand holds which'the marker may be grasped and readily lifted, and oarriedabouti It willbe understood that in carryingout our invention the suggested modifications maybe used or not as desired andtheym-ay be used in various combinations. It will also be apparent thatstill other alterations and modifications might be made without depart,- ing from the spirit and scope of the invention. We therefore do not wish to. be limited to the exact matter disclosed but aimto cover by the terms of the appended claims all these alterations and modifications which rightly come within the scope of our invention.

What we claim. as new and, desire to secure by a patent of the United States is;

1. A traffic marker-of the class described comprising a relatively flat'base having an elongated slot therein, and an" upright blade "of flexible resilient material having amain body portion thin enough'to pass upward through said slot and'a lower edge portion too thlck to pass through saidslot'.

2. A two-piece trafiic marker of the class described comprising one piece consisting; of

a relatively flat base having an elongated slot therein, and a second piece consisting of an upright blade of fiexiblejresilient material having a main body portion thin enough to pass upward through said slot and a lower edge portion too thick to pass through said slot. I

comprising a relatively flat base having an elongated slot therein, and=an uprightblade.

of flexible resilient material having a main body portion thin enough to pass upward through said slot and a lower edge portion too thick to'passthrough said slotand unslotand underlying portions of said base .on both sides of said slot to cushion said base along said slot.

5. A trafiic marker of the class described" comprising a relatively flat basehaving an elongated slot therein, and anuprightblade of flexible resilient material having amain body portion thin enough to passupward through said slot and a lower edge-portion toothick to pass through said slot, the under surfaces of said blade and of the forward and rearward portionsof sald base lying in substantially the same plane. 6. A two-piece trafiic marker of the class describedcomprising one piece consisting of arelatively flat base having an elongated slot therein, and a second piece consistingof an; upr ght I blade of flexible resilient material 3.,A traffic marker of the class described having a main body portion thin enough to pass upward through said slot and a lower edge portion too thick to pass through said slot, the under surfaces of said blade and of the forward and rearward portions of said base lying in substantially the same plane.

7. A traffic marker of the class described comprising a relatively flat base having an elongated slot therein, and an upright blade of'flexible resilient material having a main body portion thin enough to pass upward through said slot and a lower edge portion too thick to pass through said slotand underlying portions ofsaid base on both sides of said slot to cushion said base along said slot, the under surfaces of said blade and of the forward and rearward portions of said base lying in substantially the same plane.

8. A two-piece traliic marker of the class described comprising one piece consisting of a relatively flat base having an elongated slot therein, and a second piece consisting of an upright blade of flexible resilient material having a main body portion thin enough to pass upward through said slot and a lower edge portion too thick to pass through said slot and underlying portions of said base on both sides of said slot to cushion said base along said slot, the under surfaces of said blade and of the forward and rearward portions of said base lying in substantially the same plane.

9. A traffic marker of the class described comprising a relatively flat base havin an elongated slot therein, and an upright blade of flexible material having a main body portion thin enough to pass upward through said slot and a lower edge portion too thick to pass through said slot, the upper surface of said base being reversely curved, the upwardly convex portion thereof being adjacent to said blade and the upwardly concave portion being more remote therefrom, whereby the blade is reversely bent each time it is pressed down upon said surface by the traffic.

.10. A trafiic marker of the class described comprising a relatively flat base having an elongated slot therein, and an upright blade of flexible resilient material extending upward through said slot. the edge of said slot being curved to form a bending shoulder and the adjacent upper surface being oppositely curved, whereby the blade is reversely bent each time it is pressed down upon said surface by the trafhc. p

11. A traflic marker of the class described comprising a relatively flat base-having an elongated slot therein, and an upright blade of flexible material having a main body portion thin enough to pass upward through said slot and a lower edge portion too thick to pass through said slot, the upper surface of said base on each side of said blade being reversely curved, the upwardly convex portions of said reverse curves being immediately adjacent to reversely bent each time it is pressed down upon said baseby the tra jic in either direction.

12. A, trallic marker of the class described comprising a relatively flat base having an elongated slot therein, and an upright blade of flexible resilient material extendingupward through said slot, the edges on each side of said slot being curved to form bending shoulders and the upper surfaces of said base outward of said shoulders being curved oppositely to said shoulders, whereby the blade is reversely bent each time. it is pressed down upon said base by the traliic.

13. A trafiic marker of the class described comprising a relatively flat base having an elongated slot therein, and an upright blade of flexible resilient material extending upward through said slot and constituting at its lowermost portion a supporting cushion for the central portion of said base.

14. A trafiic marker of the class described comprising a relatively flat basehaving an elongated slot having curved longitudinal rib-like walls, and an upright blade of flexible resilient material extending upward through said slot and having a wedge-shaped base portion too thick to pass through said slot, the narrowest part of said wedge-shaped base constituting grooves into which said riblike walls slip and seat themselves when said blade is moved upward into final assembled position.

y 15. A traffic marker of theclass described comprising a relatively flatbase having an elongated slot therein, an upright blade of flexible resilient material extending upward through said slot and having a thickened lower portion too thick to pass through said slot, and reinforcing metal wires embodied in the thickened. lower portion of said blade.

16. A traffic marker of the class described comprising a relatively flat base having an elongated slot having curved longitudinal rib -like walls,'an upright blade of flexible resilient material extending upward through said slot and having a wedgeshaped base portion too thick to pass through said slot. the n. arrowest part of said wedge-shaped base constituting grooves into which said rib-like walls slip and seat themselves when said blade is moved upward into final assembled position, and reinforcing metal wires cinbodied in said base portion of said blade.

17. A traliic marker of the class described. comprising a relatively flat base having an elongated slot therein, and an upright blade of rubber extending upward through said slot having a stiffening rim along its top and down its ends, the rear surface of said blade being corrugated and thefront face being corrugated to form a'background for plain indicating symbols.

1 8-. A traffic marker of the class described comprising a relatively flat base having an elongated slot having a curved longitudinal rib-like walls, an upright blade or flexible resilient material having a main indicating portion thin enough to pass upward through saidslot and a lower wedge-shapedbase porti'oiitoo thick to pass through said slot and underlying portions of said base on both sides of the slot to cushion said base a-lon'g'said "slot; the narrowest portion of said wedge shaped base being positioned to snap over said riblike wallswhen said blade is pressed into finalassembled position, the under surfaces "of said blade and of the forward-and rearward portions of said base lying in substantially the same plane, and reinforcing metal Wires embraced in the said wedgeshaped base portion of said blade.

19. A traflic marker of the class describet comprising a relatively flat base having an elongated slot therein, an upright blade of flexlble resllient material extending upward through said slot, the walls on each side of said slot being curved to provide longitudinal ribs, said curved rib-like walls providing bending shoulders for said blade and the upper-surfaces of said base outward of said shoulders being curved'oppositely' to said shoulders, the upper portion of said blade be ing thin enough to pass upward through said slot and a lower wedge-shaped base portion too'thick to pass through saidslot and underlying portions of said base on both sides of the slot to cushion said base along said slot, the narrowest portlon of said wedge-shaped base being positioned to snap over said riblike walls when said blade is pressed into final assembled position, the under surfaces of said blade and of the forward and rearward portions of said base lying in substantially the same plane, and reinforcing metal wires embraced inthe said wedge-shaped base portion of said blade.

20. A tra-flic marker of the class desc ibed coinprisinga relatively flat base having an elongated slot therein, and an upright blade extending upward through 'sa-i d slot, the bottom of said blade and the front and rear edge portions of said baseconstitu'ting a three zone contact for engaging pavement on which the niarker is to rest.

In witness whereof, we hereunto subscribe our names this 12th day of April l i/D, MELVIN E. -HARTZLER.

EDGAR P. ROh IILLY. 

